🎧 Book Review 🎧 I have a confession to make, sometimes it takes me awhile to get into an audiobook. It has nothing to do with the actual book, it’s just that I am more of a visual person. But I love audiobooks and I always get into my groove. I pressed play on The Business Trip and I was immediately hooked; there was no easing into this one, Jessie Garcia worked some sort of magic and I was captivated from the first sentence. This one is really hard to talk about without too many spoilers but I can easily share that Garcia delivers an absolutely unputdownable, captivating, not to miss read! There is not a second of lull as this thriller envelops the reader in a full cast narration that is flawless.

The Business Trip is a debut novel from Jessie Garcia. This audiobook gripped me from the beginning and wondered how the story would end. Throughout, there were unexpected twists and turns that keep me engaged and guessing right up to the end. I will definitely watch for Jessie Garcia's forthcoming books.

The audiobook has a huge cast of narrators that added depth and clarity to the various characters in the story.

Thank you Net Galley. Jessie Garcia and Mac Millian Audio for the opportunity to preview this text. The opinions shared are my own.
The Business Trip is expected to be released on Jan. 14, 2025.

3/5

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

This book was soooo wild from start to finish. I can tell you one thing — I never knew what to expect or where we were going next. Listening to this on audio definitely enhanced the experience — with different narrators for each of the (many) characters, you got an added touch of dimension in the story. I don’t think the writing of this one was exceptional but I was definitely intrigued and entertained the entire time! The beginning was fairly chaotic and hard to follow, but but towards the middle things significantly picked up. If you’re looking for a quick thriller with tons of characters and even more twists, this one is for you!

First I would like to thank Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and advanced audiobook of this novel.

I went back and forth between the audiobook and the kindle addition and I enjoyed them both.

First I really loved how the beginning of this book was laid out. We met the two main characters and then switched point of views to all the different friends and other connections to these main characters. I loved how we got little pieces of the story and each persons view of how everything was going down.

I was hooked from the beginning. The narrators were great and I think having different people narrate each character helped me keep all the characters straight in my head.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first twist that happened just over half way through the novel. I felt that one was a little predictable but the final twist I didn’t see coming and I loved that one.

If you are a fan of fast-paced thrillers that are fast-moving and keep you guessing I highly recommend this book.

3.75/5 stars rounded up to 4 for this review.

Juicy, juicy, JUICCCAYYYY!

Jessie Garcia's debut popcorn thriller, THE BUSINESS TRIP, is a total blast from start to finish. The story is focused on two women, Stephanie and Jasmine. Stephanie and Jasmine couldn’t be more different, yet somehow, they’re the same. They’ve never met, but they end up on the same plane—Stephanie heading out for work, Jasmine escaping an abusive relationship. Days later, they’re texting their friends about the same man, Trent McCarthy, and the messages just keep getting weirder. Then they vanish. The texts stop, alarm bells start ringing, and the hunt for answers begins. Who is Trent, and what’s really going on here?

This book is the ultimate binge read. If you look up popcorn thriller in the dictionary, you'll see this book! I listened to the audiobook and the voice actors portraying the multiple POVs was chef's kiss. Was this book predictable? Yes. Do I care? NO. This book was so much fun and I couldn't get enough. I can't believe this is a debut thriller because Jessie Garcia has written a thriller like one of the greats. I cannot wait to read more from her. Prioritize this one for January 2025, you'll be sorry if you don't.

WOW! Loved this! The characters were so well developed. There were several people but it was easy to keep track since they each had their own specific traits. The narrators did an amazing job too! I have some strong feelings about the men specifically. Glen and Trent were so easy to dislike. Jasmine, girl. I can’t say much about her without spoilers but she has some unexpected reveals. And Stephanie has some secrets of her own. So many unexpected twists! I binged the audiobook in one sitting. Yes, I spent over 9 hours listening to this! I just couldn’t stop. Needless to say, I highly recommend! I am shocked that this is the authors debut novel. I’m anxiously awaiting what’s next!

Thank you to NetGalley & MacMillan Audio for this ALC.

I listened to about 10% and couldn't do any more. I felt like this was VERY poorly written, very basic. It was painful to listen to and I had no desire to continue.

Thank you @netgalley for another great, thrilling read! I always judge a book by its cover…whoops! I can’t help it! Cmon most of you do too! 😉
Literally page 1 and I was invested and this is a DEBUT! I cannot wait to see what’s next for this author!
Jasmine had me rooting for her so hard….almost the entire time! Wow!

I don’t usually gravitate towards thrillers for my own reading, but I often pick them up for the book discussions I run, as they’re always a hit with patrons. That’s what led me to “The Business Trip” by Jessie Garcia. While it didn’t fully work for me, I can see why others might enjoy it.

The plot started off strong—I loved how the first part focused solely on Jasmine and Steph, which pulled me into the story. Then, the shift to outsider perspectives in the later chapters was an interesting and unexpected narrative choice. I’ve never read a book with so many narrators before, and while that was new for me, I thought the audiobook narrators did a terrific job bringing the characters to life.

That said, the conclusion felt a bit too outlandish, even for a thriller. It stretched believability in a way that took me out of the story. Still, I’ve never read anything quite like this, and I think its uniqueness will appeal to readers who enjoy fast-paced, unconventional thrillers. I’ll be recommending it to my patrons!

Thank you to Jessie Garcia, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I read the book first and then listened to the audio version. For me in the audiobook the narrations were just ok and sometimes grating on my nerves. But as for the story I did really enjoy it for the most part

Other than having way too many POV's I liked the book. I think we end up with 8 different POVs and at MAX we needed 5 of them.

I got an audio ARC from NetGalley and listened to it all in one day. The narrators did a great job. Each character had a different narrator which made it really easy to follow despite the extra POVs. This was especially helpful as someone who listens at 2x speed.

A lot happens in this book that couldn't exactly happen in real life but if you don't think about it too hard it's a fun read. I won't spoil anything by pointing out examples.

If you want a quick snack of a thriller this is a good one.

I received an early edition of this audio book in exchange for my review. This author was new to me, but I was drawn to the cover art as well as the story description. This book had me hooked from the start. Some of the POV changes were a little quick which did leave me slightly confused in certain sections. With that being said, it was easy to pick up any loose threads of the plot to continue to follow along. My one con would be that I think the ending could have been more thoroughly laid out. To me the final chapters felt rushed right into a speedy epilogue.

An interesting thriller with lots of twists and turns that all begin on a business trip. At first, the multiple POVs threw me for a loop and I felt some where a bit unnecessary, BUT they did somewhat come together later on in the book and I was able to make more sense of it. Also… my god the men in this book were horrific people. But that seems to be the point and it just goes to show you never know how manipulative and awful people can be.

An issue I also had in this book was the disbelief of how things happen, and how realistic this could actually be. I like when thrillers/mysteries are more on the realistic side and are something I think can actually happen. Especially one that is so modern and includes references to StitchFix and TikTok. Overall I liked this read enough and did finish it quickly.

I really enjoyed this book!

I often have a pretty good idea where I think a book is going to go, but this book definitely set me in a different direction. And it had me questioning who I really wanted to succeed and who I wanted to fail in this book. Sometimes you don't know who the real villain is at the end of the day, and I think this book did a great job of making me think about things in a little bit of a different way.

I also really lobed the narration throughout this book. And that for me is definite added bonus. It makes the book that much more interesting and dynamic. So I want to recommend this book for all those who enjoy a great story with a good mystery and interesting plot development.

4.5 Stars
This was a surprisingly impressive debut with so many great twists (I did not see that last reveal coming at all!!) and I really enjoyed how the author connected everything together in the end. The pacing was great, there is a lot happening/to follow but I liked the multiple POVs and how they all added to the story and the audiobook narrators did a really great job at giving the characters life. I will definitely keep an eye out for more from this author in the future as I found this to be such a clever, well thought out debut!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

✨𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

The Business Trip
Jessie Garcia
Release Date: January 14, 2025

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillain.audio for the #gifted audiobook.

Jasmine and Stephanie board a plane at the same time. Both have completely different pasts and are holding on to a few secrets. Somehow they both go missing… All evidence is pointing towards one man being responsible.

This debut thriller hooked me from the very beginning. It was filled with twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. While I did think that some aspects of this story might have been a little less believable than I would have liked. I still enjoyed the way the story unfolded. There were multiple point of views so the story had to be pieced together slowly.

The audiobook was performed by a full cast. It was so well done that I flew through this audio in a day!

This was easily a 4.5-star read for me! The story was fast-paced and packed with excitement, keeping me hooked from the very beginning. The characters were incredibly likable and brought so much depth to the plot—they felt real, relatable, and added an extra layer of intrigue to the story.

The twist at the end was absolutely brilliant, catching me off guard in the best way possible. It wrapped up the story in a satisfying yet unexpected manner. If you're looking for a thrilling and engaging read, The Business Trip is definitely one to add to your list!

This is a smart, sly thriller that will keep readers satisfied and surprised with every twist. Narration changes constantly but never feels gimmicky or confusing. Instead it lets us see a scene from only one characters perspective. As the story builds, the reader gets to pull the slivers together to the ending

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Jessie Garcia!!! I received this as an audiobook arc & was hooked right from the start. I liked how the major plot was built up and then finally how it was revealed. I had theories as to what was going on, but wasn’t expecting what actually happened. The different perspectives made this a page turner needing to know what happened next. Great book!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early release audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Two women, Stephanie and Jasmine, come from two very different backgrounds. They sit next to each other on a plane. A few days later they are both missing and strange texts are being sent. Plenty of twists and turns. Trent was so awful.

Enjoyed the ensemble cast of narrators.